We went back to the lighthouse point for a second try at a cache hidden deep in the ivy, and today we found it. And I stuck my hand into a nasty pile of blackberry thorns. Ouch. DW headed straight back to the Pilot, but I lingered to take some photos of the keeper's cottage, painted bright white with dark green trim, and checked out the huge bronze bell that's in the little house that was built just for it, back when the lighthouse was first built.
The first lighthouse was built in 1901, along with a keeper's cottage. The lighthouse stood on wood pilings off shore; at low tide you could walk to the lighthouse. At high tide, the light had to be accessed by row boat.
For thirty years, Oscar Brown (and his wife, Annie) lived at the Point and took care of the light. Every evening at sundown, Brown lit the lamp in the attic, and at sunrise he put it out.
When the bell rang all night long due to fog, he had to rewind the mechanism every 45 minutes. And if the bell wasn't working, he and Annie rang the bell the hard way: she timed the interval, and he struck the bell with a sledgehammer.
When the station closed in 1964, the area became a public park. Lighthouse Park provides waterfront access to the public, for beachcombing and surf fishing, and the green space and gardens make this a nice place to hang out and have a picnic, and watch ships come in and out of the Port of Tacoma.
The lighthouse buildings and cottage are open to the public May-October on Saturdays, 1-4 pm. And if you're so inclined, you can rent the cottage for a week, and become an honorary lighthouse keeper.
What a great place, it reminds me of a lighthouse I visited on the east side of the state last year.
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